Today In News:
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| Courtesy of NPR |
- Senate Republicans launched their plan for dismantling Barack Obama’s health care law, edging a step closer to their dream of repeal with a bill that would drastically cut Medicaid and end tax increases on the wealthy. Making a final push, President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think congressional Republicans are “that far off” on a health overhaul to replace “the dead carcass of Obamacare.”
- Alerted by an announcement over a mosque’s loudspeaker that an overturned tanker truck had sprung a leak, scores of villagers raced to the scene with fuel containers Sunday to gather the oil. Then the wreck exploded, engulfing people in flames as they screamed in terror. At least 153 men, women and children were killed, with dozens more in critical condition
- Medicaid is the nation’s largest public insurance program, providing health benefits to nearly 74 million Americans including low-income adults and children, seniors and people with disabilities. It has unparalleled reach: about half of all babies are born on Medicaid and 4 in 10 children are covered by Medicaid or its sister benefit, the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Medicaid has also become a critical benefit for elderly Americans whose medical needs are not covered by Medicare, including 6 in 10 residents in nursing homes. If it passes into law, Trump will break a pledge he made as a candidate to protect Medicaid from spending cuts.
- An Oklahoma doctor was charged with five counts of second degree murder on Friday, after prosecutors say she prescribed a “horrifyingly excessive” amount of opioid painkillers to her patients,
- A number of government websites in the US state of Ohio, including that of Governor John Kasich, have been hacked to display a pro-IS message. It said President Donald Trump would be held accountable for "every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries" and ended "I love Islamic state”.
- Police in the Turkish city of Istanbul have thwarted attempts by organisers to hold a banned Gay Pride march by firing rubber bullets to disperse the marchers and detained a number of them. The organizers of the annual event had vowed to press ahead despite the ban by the authorities, who had cited threats from far-right groups.
- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says some demands on Qatar by a group of Arab countries that have imposed a blockade against it "will be very difficult to meet”.
- Albania's ruling Socialist Party look set to win Sunday's parliamentary election with between 45 and 49 percent of votes, an exit poll by Italy's IPR Marketing showed, which could secure them a majority of the seats in parliament.
- Officials with the conservative U.S. political network overseen by the Koch brothers say they are unhappy with the healthcare bill for not being conservative enough which may be voted on by the Senate this week and will lobby for changes to it. “We have been disappointed that movement has not been more dramatic toward a full repeal,” said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, a grassroots advocacy group backed by Charles Koch and his brother, David.
- Homeland Security officials testified this week before the Senate Intelligence Committee that they have evidence that Russia targeted election-related systems in 21 states as part of its wider effort to influence the presidential election. Growing concerns about threats to U.S. election systems have put the heat on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its efforts to boost national cybersecurity.
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